Pender Republicans ponder shift in electorate

Saturday

Dec 1, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Some Pender Republicans say the recent election shows that Pender County is becoming more conservative and that newcomer Republican Fred McCoy's defeat of longtime county commissioner and Democrat F.D. Rivenbark reflects a shift.

By Stephanie BowensBreakingnews@StarNewsOnline.com

Some Pender Republicans say the recent election shows that Pender County is becoming more conservative and that newcomer Republican Fred McCoy's defeat of longtime county commissioner and Democrat F.D. Rivenbark reflects a shift."Pender County is becoming more of a conservative county than it has been in the past," said Bob Muller, chairman of the Pender County Republican Party. "…Voting for the conservative candidates has spread throughout the county and is no longer just in eastern Pender."Rivenbark, who has served as a Pender county commissioner for almost 16 years, lost to McCoy by 3,553 votes in the District 4 race. Of the total 23,791 votes cast in that race, McCoy received 57.47 percent and Rivenbark 42.53 percent.Rivenbark carried much of the sparsely populated western precincts, but McCoy took eastern Pender and along the coast in precincts like Surf City, Upper and Lower Topsail, which includes the Hampstead area, Scotts Hill, and Topsail Beach. McCoy also got the majority of votes in some western Pender areas, including Penderlea and Long Creek precincts.During the election campaign, Rivenbark, who has called himself a conservative Democrat, touted his experience as one of the advantages he had over his opponent, who has no previous political experience. But some say wanting someone new may have trumped the perceived advantage of having more experience, and an overall move toward more conservative views, particularly among non-Republicans in Pender this election, may have proven too much for Rivenbark's attempt to save his seat. "(In Pender) there's no way that a (Republican) candidate can win strictly relying on Republican voters to give them the vote," Muller said. "So the only way you can win is to reach into the conservative Democrats and the conservative unaffiliated voters to achieve what you're trying to achieve, and I think that's what's happening in Pender County." According to data from the county board of elections, as of Nov. 1, the total number of registered voters in Pender was 36,129, with 38.7 percent registered as Democrats, 35.3 as Republican, 25.6 percent unaffiliated, and 0.3 percent libertarian.Pender's Republican Party handed out slate cards listing Republican candidates and conservative judges on the ballot at the polls and also mailed the cards to all of the registered Republican, unaffiliated and Libertarian voters in Pender County. "Every name on that card won a plurality of the votes in Pender County," Muller said. Republican County Commissioner Chester Ward said he agrees that the county seems to be leaning more conservative. The election results show that across the county, some people who don't identify themselves as Republican voted that way. Though Ward said he didn't know the main issue that may have led to McCoy's victory, he said various factors could have come into play – a desire for someone new and disapproval of county spending being two of them. "There's some Democrats who also voted for Republican candidates, so there's some Democrats who are looking at things from a more conservative view as far as the spending that is going on in local government. So maybe everybody has this idea, that, hey, there is a lot of spending that's going on, so maybe we need to cut, shorten up or do less spending."McCoy said he thought he'd win the election but was "a little surprised" at the margin of his victory. "It made me feel really honored…. I think people were ready for change," McCoy said. "Nothing personal against Mr. Rivenbark … but I think people were ready for a change in direction.…" Democratic leaders contacted for this story declined to comment.McCoy will be sworn in at Monday's meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room, Pender County Administration Building, 805 S. Walker St, Burgaw.